To Walk Alone: The Lonely Road
by Sourdough-AK
Summary: Walking to his favorite ramen stand on a particular day seems to be a bit harder than usual for Naruto. Takes place mid-ep 98. One-shot, and a bit of a songfic.


Standard Disclaimer:

Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto and all related parties. I have nothing to do and have nothing to do with the series- otherwise, I wouldn't be writing this silly little thing called a fanfic and the series would take a hugely different path. I'm a broke-of-his-ass college student who should be doing something better with his time, so don't bother trying to sue me... you wouldn't get anything out of me other than a few moths and lint balls.

To Walk Alone: The Lonely Path

By SourdoughAK

Life can really suck at times. Just when you think things are looking up, going your way, something comes along that drags you back down into the mud with the most force it can possibly muster. And then it kicks you in the groin while you're down for good measure, making sure that you know your place.

Such is the life of Uzumaki Naruto. The dreaded "Demon-Child". The carrier of the nine-tailed demon fox that nearly destroyed all of Konoha over twelve years ago. A boy cursed with the hate of a village for something that he had no part of, with hate born of the irrational fear of hundreds of the ignorant masses. A poor boy that was cursed with a fate that was forced upon him at birth and indirectly punished for crimes he never committed.

It had only been a few hours since he had returned from his trip with the perverted member of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya. Only a few hours since he had returned with the next Hokage, Tsunade, and her traveling companion Shizune. Needless to say, his return made him fell like complete and utter shit.

After a little run in with Konohamaru, Naruto had taken Tsunade to tend to the injured Kakashi and Sasuke. As expected, his beloved Sakura-chan was at the young Uchiha's bedside, keeping diligent watch over his prone and unconscious form. He had come in excited, smiling and babbling about the greatness of Tsunade. A few words were exchanged, and from there Tsunade proceeded to use her incredible medic-nin skills be bring Sasuke out of his comatose state. While Naruto had expected Sakura to be happy that Sasuke was in the clear, he had also expected her to turn her smile onto him, to praise him for his efforts, and to thank him for what he had done for her.

Instead she had flung herself into Sasuke when he sat up in his groggy state, crying her eyes out. She had acted that Naruto never existed.

Naruto felt his heart shatter into a million pieces like a cheap piece of glassware upon being dropped no more than half a foot.

He masked his feelings the best he could, putting on his usual cheerful and boisterous front and took Tsunade to deal with Kakashi next before leaving to meet Iruka at Ichiraku Ramen for lunch.

The trip was as hellacious as it could get. The entire way there, he was followed by the cold scrutiny of the everyday townsfolk. A mere glance to any passerby would elicit a harsh, cold glare or cause the person to advert his or her eyes. People would go out of their way to avoid the boy, giving him a wide berth in passing on the street. Parents would tear their children out his path, telling them in hushed tones that he was bad news and to be avoided at all costs.

It all made Naruto feel small and insignificant. He knew why the villagers treated him like this, and it cut him to the bone. He tried so hard to gain their trust, their love... their acceptance.

It seemed he was failing every step of the way.

No matter what he tired, his shadow was still the only company he ever had whenever he walked the streets. He felt his shallow heart beat with ever step he took, jabbing into chest with a needle-like pain. It was the same pain that he felt growing up. The same pain he felt with every glare, every instance of being ignored; every harsh word and insult cut him deeply, creating scars that never healed and bled freely even to this day.

At times he had to check his vitals to see if he was still alive. If looks and whispers could kill, he would have died thousands of times over in the past twelve years from the aforementioned activities.

He had found some acceptance and acknowledgment recently. The infamous Rookie Nine was beginning to look onto him with some respect. Hatake Kakashi had taken him on as student when he figured when no one else would. Tsunade had openly acknowledged that he could one day become Hokage. Shizune openly showed concern for his well-being on more than one occasion. Jiraiya, however perverted and childish he may be, was like a grandfather to him with his years of wisdom and his random acts of kindness. There was also the owner of the Ichiraku and his daughter, from whom he never recalled an instance of a scowl or a glare, not to mention free ramen.

And then there was Umino Iruka, the first person to acknowledge him. A man who openly cared for him, not concerning himself with what others thought. Who corrected him strictly and firmly, yet never went out of his way to make him feel like he was less than human. The man who regularly treated him to ramen. The one man who went out of his way to make him feel _wanted_ by someone. In a nutshell, Iruka was the father that he never had, filling a hole in his heart that caused him great pain whenever he saw children interacting with their parents. The feeling he assumed that could be described as the reception of fatherly love for a child was a feeling that he never wanted to stop feeling, now or ever.

But everyone has his or her own life and interests. Iruka was a very busy and awfully popular teacher at the Academy. It was obvious that the man loved his work and easily identified with kids. The ramen stand owner and his daughter had the business to run. The Rookie Nine had their own teams and missions to complete. Sasuke acknowledged him as a rival, but only as a rival, and Sakura had eyes for only Sasuke. Kakaski had made it very clear, in Naruto's eyes, that he was more interested in teaching the young Uchiha, and even went as far as to teach his only original jutsu to the self-proclaimed avenger. Jiraiya would disappear for long periods of time to do his "research". Tsunade would soon be taking over the duties of Hokage, and Shizune would most likely become her administrative assistant. In the end, he would be left on the wayside as everyone went about their lives.

As Naruto approached his favorite ramen bar, he noticed that he was slightly late, and that Iruka was as well. Not surprising, seeing as how active a role the Chuunin had in educating the up and coming in the village.

Naruto took solace in the fact that there were some people that cared for him, but it didn't help as much as he thought it should. The glares and whispers still got to him. It still hurt to see people go out of their way to avoid him, despite all he had given to protect them.

He still walked alone on the lonely streets, his shadow his only company and his shallow heart beating with every step he took.

The End...

Notes:

Well, my first ever fanfic is over. I hope you all enjoyed it. This wasn't an easy fic to write, and hope that my efforts turned out a good product.

I'm sorry to anyone who feels like I didn't do a particular character justice in the way they were described, but I like to call things as I see them, and needless to say, I'm not too happy with how Kakashi brushed Naruto off by the wayside during the Chuunin Exams, whatever his reasons were. A teacher does not do this to his students. While I like him as a character, I feel that he would have been more suited to be a tutor than anything else. He focuses an unhealthy amount of attention on Sasuke as far as I'm concerned, and he doesn't seem to be very forceful in getting Sakura to improve her skills, and it seems to me that she is getting left woefully left behind as Naruto and Sasuke grow in leaps and bounds.

Iruka is an incredibly under appreciated character in the series, as far as I'm concerned. The man is a world of virtue, and I wish Kishimoto would do more with him and make him a more integral part of the story. Unfortunately, he's a victim of the DBZ-character-drop syndrome, where he's only kept in the main story line for what he's useful for and then only makes cameos.

This story is a one shot, inspired by Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" from their latest album American Idiot... I'm not going to continue this. I have another story in the works, one that will probably take me until the end of time to finish with all the planning and details I've worked out, but classes are eating up my time. Sometimes college sucks. So does writers block.

Review if you want. Constructive criticism is nice to have, but if you outright flame me, I will carve your still beating hearts out and offer them to the Aztec sun god in sacrifice, then eat your liver and dance on your corpse...

... Or not...

Go buy Green Day's "American Idiot"... It's a great album.

This is SourdoughAK, signing off. Ja!

Lyrics for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"

By Green Day

_I walk a lonely road_

_The only one that I have ever known_

_Don't know where it goes_

_But it's home to me and I walk alone_

_I walk this empty street_

_On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams_

_Where the city sleeps_

_And I'm the only one and I walk alone_

_I walk alone, I walk alone_

_I walk alone, I walk alone_

_My shadow's the only one that walks beside me_

_My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating_

_Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me_

'_Til then, I walk alone_

_I'm walking down the line_

_That divides me somewhere in my mind_

_On the borderline of the edge_

_And where I walk alone_

_Read between the lines of what's_

_Fucked up and everything's all right_

_Check my vital signs to know that I'm still alive_

_And I walk alone_

_I walk alone, I walk alone_

_I walk alone, I walk alone_

_I walk this empty street on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams_

_Where the city sleeps_

_And I'm the only one and I walk alone_

_My shadow's the only one that walks beside me_

_My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating_

_Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me_

'_Til then, I walk alone_


End file.
